patseguin Global Moderator Posted August 8, 2017 Global Moderator Share Posted August 8, 2017 Need some advice. Perhaps @budman wants to chime in. We run a relatively old Dell server with 32-bit Windows Server 2008 and a small 5 workstation domain. We need to upgrade our Filemaker based order processing system but it requires a 64-bit server OS. Additionally, the server has been crashing randomly overnight. We think maybe from overheating. We discussed purchasing a new server but then I remembered that the people who make our order entry system offer hosted servers. My main question is can a hosted server viably replace a local server and do all of the same things like act as a domain controller, run my SQL datatabases, etc? It seems to me that the big thing is right now I have a gigabit connection speed on the network. If I used a hosted server, I would basically have a connection limited to my internet speed which right now is 10Mbps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted August 8, 2017 Veteran Share Posted August 8, 2017 Yes it can. If all you are doing is data entry a 10mb/s uplink is fine. If that is your download you may want to consider a 100Mb/s pipe to get that uplink speed there. Backups are another issue though. How big is your db and how do you want to restore (entire server or just the db instance). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skiver Veteran Posted August 8, 2017 Veteran Share Posted August 8, 2017 I'd consider cost in all of this, whilst it may be technically possible, hosting stuff can get expensive. It doesn't sound like your requirements will be too large but you need to weigh up the costs of purchasing a new physical server and any other expenses around that for the cost of ownership for its lifetime (for argument's sake 5 years). Then work out how much you will be paying in hosted fee's for that same 5 years and whether it still works out financially sane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patseguin Global Moderator Posted August 8, 2017 Author Global Moderator Share Posted August 8, 2017 4 hours ago, Skiver said: I'd consider cost in all of this, whilst it may be technically possible, hosting stuff can get expensive. It doesn't sound like your requirements will be too large but you need to weigh up the costs of purchasing a new physical server and any other expenses around that for the cost of ownership for its lifetime (for argument's sake 5 years). Then work out how much you will be paying in hosted fee's for that same 5 years and whether it still works out financially sane. Excellent point. I am such a novice at Server that managing it is a real headache. But, at the same time it doesn't make a whole lot sense to subscribe indefinitely and pay more than I would just for a new box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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